Fastener combination



sept. 14, 1965 w. R. LILLY 3,205,981

FASTENER COMBINATION Filed May 9, 1963 f/gewmg.'

United States Patent Ofiice 3,205,981 Patented Sept. 14, 1965 3,205,981 FASTENER CDMBINATION Wynne R. Lilly, Perrysbnrg, Ohio, assigner to Toledo Scale Corporation, Toledo, Ohio Filed May 9, 1963, Ser. No. 279,134 8 Claims. (Cl. 1239-36) This invention relates to a device or a fastener combination for automatically positioning fasteners.

The device is particularly .well suited for use in connection with mounting the cams, interlocks and the mounting strips for the safe edge assemblies on elevator doors.

Many power operated doors of elevator cars are equipped with safe-edges which stand along the front margins of the doors and which, when they encounter persons lor other obstacles as the doors are closing, activate mechanisms that stop or reverse the closing movements of the doors. Such a safe-edge is disclosed in Uni-ted States Patent No. 3,040,839 issued June 26, 1962, in the name of Carl Panter.

The safe edges are carried on elongated mounting strips which extend from the bottoms of the doors to positions near the tops of the doors. Heretofore, suc-h mounting strips were :secured to the doors by means including carriage bolts carried by the mounting strips and received in keyhole slots in the doors. It has been dilicult if not impossible for one m-an to hold a mounting strip in place during assembly and at the s-ame time turn the carriage bolts in the strip so that they are oriented for reception in the bottoms of the keyhole slots. In other words, it is a job for three hands.

Accord-ingly, the objects of this invention are to provide new techniques for assembling elevator car doors, t facilita-te the alignment of bolts in keyhole slots, to provide modified keyhole slots for automatically positioning fasteners for reception in such slots, and to simplify the connection of one membe-r to another when such members are connected by means including a fastener carried by one member and having a portion received in a keyhole slot in the other member.

One embodiment of lthis invention enabling the rea-lization of these objects is a combination of a iirst member, such as an elevator door, defining a modified keyhole slot, a second member, such as a mounting str-ip for a safe edge assembly, and a bolt carried by the second member and having a shank and a head extending from the second member. The bolt shank has opposed parallel sides and the :slot has an arcuate upper end of a size to admit the bolt head and a lower end having rectilinear gener-ally parallel sides so spaced as to prevent turning of the bolt when the lower slot end receives the bolt shank. The juncture of one of the lower slot end sides and the upper slot end is at -a .point functioning as a pivot and the other of the lower slot end sides has an upper portion slanting away from the pivot to'join the upper slot end and spaced from the pivot at its closest point to the pivot by a distance equal to the transverse distance between any two oppositely located corners of the bolt shank .plus an increment for clearance so that there is room in the slot for the bolt shank to turn on the pivot to be oriented for reception in the lower slot end.

In accordance with the above, one feature of this invention resides in the simplification in the assembly of the members which are connected by inserting the bolt head (bolt loosely carried by the second member) through the upper slot end (s-lot in the iirst member) and moving the second member downwardly toward t-he lower slot end causing the bolt shank to turn automatically on the .pivot for reception in the lower slot end. Hence, it is easy for one man to attach an elongated safe edge assembly mounting strip carrying a plurality of carriage bolts to an elevator door provided with the modified keyhole slots, one for each bolt, by grasping the mounting strip .by both hands, moving the mounting strip into a position wherein the bolt heads exten-d through the arcuate upper ends of the modied keyhole slots, and then moving the mounting strip downwardly, whereupon the bolt -shanks automatically are oriented for reception in the l-ower slot ends and then are received in the lower :slot ends. The man then releases his grasp on the mounting strip and tightens nuts on the bolts which Iare prevented from turning by the lower slot ends.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will be appreciated more fully from the following detailed 'description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of one of la pair of centeropening elevator car doors as viewed from a hall land- 111g;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, an elevator car door 10 has a front wall l11 and a rear wall 12 with a space 13 therebetween. The front wall 11 which carries the convention-al cam, interlocks and the safe edge assembly is concealed :by a hall landing door (not shown) and ythe rear Wall 12 which is seen by the elevator passengers presents la smooth unbroken surface. Before the door 10 is formed to have a front and rear wall, i.e., while the .front wall 11 still is a fiat sheet, three .reinforcing plates 14 are attached to the back surface of the front wall 11.

The upper one of t-he reinforcing plates 14 as viewed in FIG. 1 is provided with live modiiied keyhole slots 15 of the invention which extend through the juxtaposed door wall 11, 4and the other two of the plates 14 each are provided With one of such modified keyhole slots 15, such slots also extending through the juxtaposed door wall 1-1. The top fou-r `slots y15 as viewe-d in FIG. 1 are used in attaching an ordinary cam and interlocks to the door 10. The cam and interlocks are not shown but they are Iattached by means including the mod-iiied keyhole slots 15 in the same manner as is a mounting strip 16 the yattachment of which is described hereinafter.

The mounting strip 16 yfor the safe edge assembly is an elongated member extending from the bottom of the door 10 to a position near the top of the door, the three lower modified keyhole slots 15 being used in connecting the mounting strip 16 to the door 10. Heretofore, the mounting strip was secured to the door by means including carriage bolts carried by the mounting strip land received in ordinary keyhole slots in the doors. It has been difiicult if not impossible for one man to hold the mounting strip in place during assembly .and at the same time turn the carriage bolts in the strip so that the bolts are oriented for reception in the bottoms of the keyhole slots.

The modified keyhole slots 15 of the invention automatically turn t-he bolts into proper positions to be received in the bottoms of the keyhole slots. An ordinary carriage bolt 17 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; `it has a shank 118 and a head 19 extending from the mounting strip 16 and is loose, i.e., free to turn in the mounting strip. A nut Ztl is threaded on the free end of the bolt 17. The bolt shank 18 has opposed parallel sides 21, i.e., although the bolt 17 shown has four sides, it could have six, ei-ght, etc. sides. The transverse d-istan-ce between any two oppositely located corners of the carriage bolt 17 is shown as Xin FIG. 3.

The modified keyhole slots 15 are identical and, accordingly, only one is described hereinafter in detail. A greatly enlarged slot 1S is shown in FIG. 3 it includes an arcuate vupper end 22 of a size to admit the bolt head 19 and a lower end having rectilinear generally parallel sides 23 so spaced as to prevent turning of the bolt when the lower s'lot end receives the bolt shank 18 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 3. The juncture of one of the lower slot end sides 23 and the upper slot end 22 is at a point 24 functioning as a pivot and the other of the lower slot end sides 23 has an upper portion 25 slanting away from the pivot 24 to join the upper slot end 22 and spaced from the pivot 24 at i-ts closest point to the pivot by a distance equal to the length X defined above and shown in FIG. 3 plus an increment for clearance (X plus such increment is shown as R in FIG. 3) so that there is room in the slot 15 for the bolt shank 18 to turn on the pivot to be oriented for reception in the lower slot end. The slot side 25 is outside an arc A (FIG. 3) having a center at 'the pivot point 24 and a radius equal to R defined above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the slot side 25 is -about tan-gent to the upper slot end 22 and also about tangent to the are A.

Accordingly, the modifie-d keyhole slot 15 is so formed that the members (door 10 and mounting strip 16) Iare connectable by inserting the bolt head 19 through the upper sl-ot end .22 (the bolt 17 being loosely carried by the mounting st-rip 16) and moving one member relative to the -other member to turn the bolt automatically in the slot for reception in the lower slot end.

In operation, -a man grasps the mounting strip 16 carrying three carriage bolts 17 with both hands and moves the strip into a position wherein the bolt heads 19 eX- tend through the arcuate upper ends of the modified keyhole slots 15, and then moves the mounting strip 16 downwardly, whereupon the bolt shanks 18 rotate on the pivot points 24 as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 3 to 'be oriented for reception in the lower slot ends and then are received in the lower slot ends yas shown in` solid lines 4in FIG. 3. The man then tightens the nuts 20 on the bolts 17 which are prevented from turning bythe slot sides 23. The bolt heads 19 are located between the door walls 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. 2 concealed from View.

It is to be understood that the above `description is i1- 'lustrative of this invention and that various modifi-cations thereof can be utilized without departing from its spirit and scope.

Having described the invention, I olaim:

1. A member defining .a slot for the reception of a rotatable shank having a pair of parallel sides separated by the minimum dimension across the cross section of said shank and having a maximum dimension across the cross section of said shank substantially greater than said minimum dimension, and a head form-in-g a flange transverse of said shank and extending beyond said minimum dimension, said member comprising a body between a pair of generally parallel :surfaces spaced less than the length of said shank and generally planar in form, said' body having a plurality of internal margins extending between said surfaces and closed upon themselves in each surface to form said slot, a first of said margins defining an area in said surfaces .sufiicient to receive the head on said shank, a second and third of said margins bein-g parallel to each other and spaced a distance exceeding said minimum dimension and less th-an said maximum dimension, projections `of said second and third margins extending lacross said area defined by said first margin, said second margin having a juncture with said first margin, a fourth margin extending between said second and third margins, and a fifth generally straight margin extending from said third margin to Said first margin and spaced said maximum dimension from the juncture of said first and second margins.

2. A combination according to claim 1 wherein said first margin defines an area passing said head in lany rotational orientation of said shank while said shank is generally normal to said member.

3. A combination accor-ding to claim 1 wherein said fi-rst margin defines a generally circular area.

4. A combination a-ccording to claim 3 wherein said fifth margin is general-ly tangent to said first margin.

5. In a device for automatically positioning fasteners, in combination, a first member having a plurality of connected internal margins which define a slot through said member, a second member, and a bolt rotatably carried .by the second member and having a shank land a head extending from the second member, the bolt shank having opposed parallel sides spaced a minimum dimension across said shank cross section, a first of said margins defining an upper area of a size to admit the bolt head, 4a second and a third of said margins defining a lower area having sides so spaced as to prevent turning of the lbolt when the lower area receives the bol-t shank, a fourth margin extending between Said second .and third margins, and a fifth margin extending between said third and first margins and spaced from the juncture of said first 4and second .margins at least the ymaximum dimens-ion of said shank cross section whereby the insertion lof the bolt head through the upper area of said slot and moving one member relative to the other member to position said shank between said second and third margins, said bolt shank is turned -automatically and oriented for reception between said second and third margins.

6. In .a device for 4automatically positioning fasteners according to claim 5 wherein said fifth margin slants away from the juncture of said first and second margins to meet the first margin.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 13,478 12/ 13 Great Britain. 143,468 5/20 Gre-at Britain.

RICHARD W. CQOKE, IR., Primary Examiner, 

1. A MEMBER DEFINING A SLOT FOR THE RECEPTION OF A ROTATABLE SHANK HAVING A PAIR OF PARALLEL SIDES SEPARATED BY THE MINIMUM DIMENSION ACROSS THE CROSS SECTION OF SAID SHANK AND HAVING A MAXIMUM DIMENSION ACROSS THE CROSS SECTION OF SAID SHANK SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN SAID MINIMUM DIMENSION, AND A HEAD FORMING A FLANGE TRANSVERSE OF SAID SHANK AND EXTENDING BEYOND SAID MINIMUM DIMENSION, SAID MEMBER COMPRISING A BODY BETWEEN A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL SURFACES SPACED LESS THAN THE LENGTH OF SAID SHANK AND GENERALLY PLANAR IN FORM, SAID BODY HAVING A PLUALITY OF INTERNAL MARGINS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID SURFACES AND CLOSED UPON THEMSELVES IN EACH SURFACE TO FORM SAID SLOT, A FIRST OF SAID MARGINS DEFINING AN AREA IN SAID SURFACES SUFFICIENT TO RECEIVE THE HEAD OF SAID 